The contradictions we live with galore. It would be foolhardy to think of a contradiction-free, perfectly harmonious society. But ours is the one riddled with far too many of them. Our fascination with royals or ex-royals is a case in point.
There was a time we wanted royals out and now they are out we want them in. It is absurd to want to see Gyanendra back. Did he not abdicate willingly in full media glare? However, that’s not the whole picture. When we saw Kamal Thapa in Geneva and heard him speak about interference in our sovereignty, we could see a reflection of our monarchs.
The earthquakes followed by promulgation of constitution followed by blockade have helped us understand the contradictions that surround us. Enough has been written about these. But I want to focus on the way we expected someone (read: all the foreign donors) to help us rid of all our ills once we had the all-powerful National Reconstruction Authority. It took nine months just to materialize. The minute we had this body set up, the focus shifted to the perks and benefits NRA members would get. National newspapers spent copious space on the facilities NRA CEO was to get.
Even before the CEO had time to complete his panel of experts, he was being criticized. On the one hand we want these people to work swiftly but we also want them to work for a penny. I assume members of this body would have to run places, conduct high level meetings, even travel abroad to see rehabilitation elsewhere. So it makes no sense to hope that they make do with pennies, just like the suffering earthquake victims.
Remember another grand old man of Nepali politics turned deputy prime-minister, Chitra Bahadur KC? We saw him the other day drive past and my companion instantly remarked: ‘Wasn’t this guy on a tempo just a few months ago?’ I was silent but could not help wondering about sitting next to a deputy prime minister in a crammed bus.
What next?
It’s only a matter of time before this commission that took ages to form too gets embroiled in corruption. The bidding for construction material ought to soon begin. Given the enormity of disaster, there will need to be a global tender. Will we cry foul saying that national companies can do the job just as well?
One with the lowest bid will be awarded the contract—not one with the best. It was surprising to know that transmission line in Kohalpur has not been completed in the past five years for this very reason. The bid went to lowest and the story ended there. What happens next is investigation on poor quality and incomplete work.
Huge purchases will have to be made by NRA. And we just do not know how to deal with the bidding process. You see no reason why you should not be skeptical of the future of reconstruction!
We all know our government is most inefficient and yet the government cannot give projects to private sector.
Recently, we heard Prime Minister KP Oli talk about our journey from total self-sufficiency to total dependence. We heard him criticize the sale of state owned factories for penny. At one time, we vociferously complained as to why our hard earned tax should be funneled to such loss making institutions. And now, we want them back knowing full well—with statistical backup—how our governance has worsened in the past couple of decades.
Ours must be the only country running both medicine factory (Royal Drugs) and cigarette factory (Janakpur Cigarette).
I was able to watch live coverage of a recently held literary festival in Pokhara. I wonder why it was named a literary festival since it appeared to be more of a conglomeration of everyone but litterateurs. At one point former Chief Secretary mentioned how he tried wholesale change in the way government ran its bureaucracy, but it did not take him much time to realize that was impossible. The audience clapped. In rest of the world, once you retire you go public to share success stories. Out here, you share your failures. And you still have audiences clapping.
In the end, as the talk of the blockade being lifted was gaining ground, reports of sporadic incidences of small-time black marketers nabbed by police began surfacing. Around the same time we heard one of the ministers thank black marketers for helping the economy at such a difficult juncture.
We do not question our deputy prime minister for the remarks which could elsewhere have landed him in jail. Rather we arrest the small time black-marketers. The one that cried from roof endorsing the act continues to occupy high office, and gets branded as a true nationalist.
Hiteshkarki@gmail.com
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